Most providers of telecommunications services, such as AT&T, typically offer both dedicated and non-dedicated service. A customer wishing a connection through a service provider's network only for the duration of a call typically seeks non-dedicated service. In practice, the service provider provides such non-dedicated service by establishing a path through its network to the called party upon initiation of a call from the calling party. After completion of the call, the service provider tears down the previously established path. For each successive call made by a customer under non-dedicated service, the service provider establishes a path and thereafter tears it down. In some instances, a portion of the path provided for non-dedicated service may remain in place. For example, a portion of the non-dedicated path may include a trunk or channel connecting a switching system and a piece of transmission equipment that remains permanently in place. However, other portions of the non-dedicated path, such as internal links within the switching system, only exist for the duration of the call.
Many businesses and institutions that initiate large volumes of telecommunications traffic to a single location, such as a branch office or remote facility, achieve greater efficiency and reduced costs by utilizing a dedicated network path to route such traffic. In contrast to the transient network path associated with non-dedicated service, the entire network path associated with dedicated service exists before call initiation and remains in place after call completion. In other words, the network path associated with dedicated service remains available so long as the customer requests such service, regardless of the existence of any traffic.
The process of selecting a dedicated path for dedicated service, or the dedicated portion of a path for non-dedicated service, is known as provisioning. Most telecommunications service providers provision a dedicated path, such as a T1 trunk, in the following manner. First, a customer (or the service provider itself) makes a service request for a dedicated path. Upon receipt of the request, the service provider takes inventory of its existing inventory of trunks. From its available trunk inventory, the service provider selects an appropriate route that will satisfy the requesting customer's requirements.
Invariably, the selected route runs through at least one Digital Cross-Connect system (DCS). Such systems are well known and connect at least one incoming trunks to at least one outgoing trunk in response to a provisioning command, often supplied remotely to the DCS from a provisioning center located. While most service providers maintain accurate data base records of the cross-connections provided by each DCS, conflicts can and do arise between a newly created customer order and a pre-existing "ghost" cross-connect not entered in the cross-connect data base. Presently, to avoid interrupting present service, execution of the new customer order must await verification of a pre-existing cross-connect.
Today, verification of pre-existing customer service requires two manual operations. First, the provisioning center first dispatches a technician from the On-Site Work Force (OWSF) to the DCS to check the presence of any pre-existing signal on selected cross-connect using an appropriate test command. Secondly, the technician performs the appropriate test and analyzes the result. Obviously, if valid service exists, the service provider will not implement new service in conflict with such pre-existing service.
External verification of pre-existing service by the above-described manual process is costly and time consuming. Manual verification of pre-existing service delays implementation of new service, creating customer dissatisfaction.
Thus, there is a need for a technique for improving verification of pre-existing service on a DCS system.